The One That Disappeared
by Kavv
Summary: "... no last words, nothing. He'd just laid there and died as quietly as possible." Cloud dies in the wastelands. AVALANCHE don't know what they're missing. Rated for language, violence and character death.
1. Prologue - Take No Prisoners

**Please review if you enjoyed this, or if you think there's something I can improve upon. Chapter 1 will probably be up in a couple of weeks, but I am determined not to abandon this!**

**I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any places, characters or events within it.**

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Prologue – Take No Prisoners

His breathing was heavy, his heart almost pounding through his ribcage. By all rights, he should feel like a god. Any other lowly trooper in his position undoubtedly would, but he only felt slightly sick. He brought his gun up, struggling to keep it steady, and shot SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair several times in the chest. There was a slight moan as effulgent Mako eyes rolled backwards, but Zack didn't move again. He thought he would be relieved to finally end this wild-goose chase around Gaia, but he didn't feel it.

"That should do. There's no way he can survive that one." Officer Grey clapped the infantryman on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Well done. It's not every day you bring down a SOLDIER 1st, is it?" He guessed not, and smiled weakly. He couldn't shake off the sickness though, but that was his own fault. Joining the army when you don't like blood? He only joined to get out of the slums.

"Hey, sir!" He could hear the call of his other comrade, and he looked over. Marcus was stood next to a huge rock, gun in hand, smiling. "I found the other guy!" He beckoned the two over.

"Ah, good." The officer ran over to Marcus, grinning under his helmet. This was perfect; he'd been hoping for a promotion soon, and after this, he was sure to get one. "Let's make it two out of two, then. Come on, Corporal Jackson!" The trooper quickly followed his officer and his eyes followed the path of scuffed-up dirt to the figure of another infantryman. Private Cloud Strife was the name the mission brief had stated. The brief had also said he was twenty years old, but Jackson privately thought he looked more sixteen or seventeen, with his blond spikes and slight stature. His head lolled against the stone he was propped up against; he was clearly out of it. Did he even know he'd just murdered his friend? For some reason, he hoped not.

"Jackson. Would you like to do the honours?" He shook his head. He could just about justify the killing of a rogue SOLDIER that had a huge sword and wiped out about half of the squadron. However, killing a boy that had been unwittingly dragged along was another thing entirely. It was very clear that he had a bad case of Mako poisoning on top of that; his eyes looked like they were about to burn themselves up, they were so bright. Jackson wondered if Cloud Strife even knew that his death was being casually discussed right in front of him.

"Just leave him, Sir. He's as good as dead anyway. "

"Leave him?!" He could almost hear the sound of his pay being docked. Bad move. "Leave him?! We have orders for his termination, and this is our chance to get one up on those SOLDIERs!" _And a promotion_, Marcus added in his head. It was no secret Officer Grey sucked up to his superiors to try and get raises and promotions, and that was the reason the other officers hated him. The officer pushed Jackson aside and turned to Marcus. "You do it."

Marcus was torn. Jackson had a point, and Marcus sympathised with the reasons behind Jackson's rebuttal -_this one's just a boy, damn it_ - but he didn't want his pay docked too, and he knew Grey would. He had a little daughter to think about, so he pulled out his knife and pressed it to the boy's neck. _Come on, Marcus. He'd probably die anyway. He wouldn't make it to Midgar even if you didn't do this._ He firmly told himself he was putting the blond kid out of his misery, and pushed down on the knife, sawing through the windpipe. Blood spurted out, dying Marcus' uniform purple as it dried in. The kid exhaled and then he was dead. As quick as that; no fighting back like Zack Fair, no heroic last stand for freedom or something like that, no last words, nothing. He'd just laid there and died as quietly as possible, and something about that just didn't sit right with Marcus. He felt like a monster. The death of this one had been unnecessary, and he'd done it for the pay check.

"Good job, boys. We're gonna be heroes!" Grey didn't seem to care though, even going as far as purposefully kicking dust on the corpse of the boy before heading back to the helicopter, a slight bounce in his step. "C'mon, let's head back and get the good news up to Heidegger!" Marcus rolled his eyes to Grey's retreating back. Jackson reached out and absently stroked the tip of one of the spikes before turning and following Officer Grey.

"Sorry, kiddo. Grey wasn't letting you go." Marcus took a moment to compose himself and clean his knife off on his trousers before running to catch up with Jackson, carefully stepping over the bodies that the SOLDIER had sliced down.

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When the Turks finally found the outcropping that Zack had died on, he'd already passed into the Lifestream, along with the regular infantrymen that had died by Zack's hand. Rude wasn't sure he'd ever seen this much blood in one place before; a massacre had occurred here.

"We're not very good couriers, are we?" Reno asked as he studied the Buster sword. Blood had dried on in rivulets and there were slight scuff marks all along the blade. At least he'd put up a good fight against those bastards. They'd only won because they'd gone against Tseng's orders. This could've been avoided.

"Reno." Reno looked over, not realising that Rude wasn't by his side anymore. He was crouched behind a rock; Reno only knew he was there from the tails of his jacket rippling slightly in the breeze.

"This isn't the time for Hide-and-Seek." Reno muttered under his breath as he came and stood beside Rude. They were looking down at a regular-issue sword for the army and a pool of red that was beginning to seep into the ground and dry up.

"Looks like they got the trooper." Rude said as he picked up the sword and examined it. It was almost free from marks and blood, which probably meant it hadn't participated in the fight against Zack. It also wasn't twisted or broken, like many of the other swords left here.

"Yeah, that's probably Strife's. Pass it here." Rude handed the weapon over and watched Reno walk away from him with it. He stuck it in the ground with one hand on the edge of the outcropping where the Buster sword lay. He then managed to heave the Buster sword up and wedged that next to the army-issue sword. Reno looked over towards Midgar and sighed. For all that SOLDIERs were supposed to be rivalling Turks and vice versa, Reno genuinely liked the 1st Class. He just had something about him that made him so likeable, even to Tseng, and he was one of the few SOLDIERs that had preserved their youthful innocence. Which was something Reno wished he'd never lost.

"Should've gone a bit left." Reno jumped slightly, too lost in thought to notice that Rude had come up behind him. He was surprisingly light on his feet for a big guy, and he was also right. If they had flown just a bit more East from Headquarters, they would've found them. They could've intercepted the army easily and taken them to safety.

"Should've, but we didn't. C'mon, we need to go break it to Tseng. We lost them both."

"A task impossible for the Turks?" Rude murmured, remembering the conversation he'd had with Reno in the helicopter.

"Perhaps for three Turks. If we'd still got…" Reno trailed off, but Rude knew exactly what he was referring to, or rather, whom. Silently, they got back in their helicopter and flew back to Midgar.


	2. 1 - Countdown

**Thanks to those who've followed and favourited! Next update will probably be a few days away, but please review if you enjoyed!**

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1 – Countdown

The train screeched to a halt in the dark station, where two tired guards kept watch on the platform. They quickly scanned the train, seeing nothing out of place, when a man jumped from the roof of the first carriage, bandana fluttering slightly in the breeze of the cool night.

"Hey!" The first guard called out in surprise, as he began running to the intruder. He whipped his baton from his belt, but the man side-stepped him and ducked, grabbing the guard's legs and flipping him over as if he were only a sack of potatoes. The guard fell heavily on the side of the train with a thud and laid there, slightly stunned. A second intruder, this time a woman, ran onto the platform and quickly dispatched of the other officer. Once the guards were down, two more men came out of the train.

"C'mon, let's go!" The last man shouted, but his comrades were already headed out of the station. He quickly checked his right arm, where a huge gun was grafted onto the end, replacing a hand, before running to catch the others up. As he left, two soldiers ran onto the platform, their boots making the only sound.

"Huh? Where'd they go?" The first one asked, looking around in disbelief. They'd started running as soon as they saw the first one jump off the train, and they'd only been a couple of minutes away. Surely they hadn't got rid of the guards and got out so soon?

"Hurry up, Jessie." The man with the bandana hissed as she fiddled with the buttons, trying to get the gate that led to the reactor open.

"Shut it, Biggs." He fell silent as she skilfully cracked the code. The man with the gun-arm ran up to the trio as Jessie was pushing the last few buttons. He'd been checking the area for security, and was pleased to see that everything was rather lax around here. It made their job a lot easier.

"The hell you all doin'!? I thought I told you never to move in a group!"

"Sorry, Barret." Biggs said, even though he wasn't really sorry. It was just a good idea to keep on the boss' good side, as he was easily angered and Biggs didn't really want to take the brunt of one such outburst. Jessie stood up as the gate opened and they all ran through, splitting up to take different paths through the compound. All the while, they made sure to check their surroundings for guards and the like, but there were none present. Jessie figured that there wouldn't be many people trying to get into reactors anyway and shrugged off that feeling of something's-not-right-here. As the group got inside, Jessie, Biggs and Barret turned right to head deeper into the reactor.

"Make sure it's secure, Wedge!" Biggs called to the other man as he ran past. Wedge nodded, as he peeled off from the group to stay on the bridge and set up an escape route for the others.

Jessie and Biggs set to work on the codes for the inner doors as Barret kept watch behind them. Biggs pressed the large blinking button and the door opened.

"Code deciphered," he said as the three ran through the door. Jessie set to work on the next one. "Think how many of our people risked their lives, just for this code..." Biggs wondered out loud. They'd put a lot of work into this, and they could've been killed at any time. But they'd managed to do it, and here they were, saving the planet from ShinRa.

"Code deciphered." Jessie's voice broke his thoughts as she ran through the door. Barret went after her, but it was Biggs' job to stay here, guard the elevator and stop anyone from getting into the core of the reactor to mess with their plan. He hoped nobody came; he didn't really like fighting. He preferred to leave that to Barret, so he could plan everything out. That was his forte.

Jessie and Barret entered a tiny service elevator that was covered in flashing lights and buttons that had no labels. Jessie pressed the one by the door while Barret clicked the one that Jessie pointed to with her free hand. The elevator jerked into action, slowly beginning to move down. It seemed like it was only creeping along to Barret, who began to tap his foot in impatience.

"Can't we hurry it up?!" Jessie shook her head.

"We don't want to do anything that might alert Shinra, right?" Barret bristled with anger. She was right, of course, but he just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. The planet couldn't hang on forever. Eventually, the elevator ground to a halt and the pair ran out. Jessie darted down the stairs, eager to get in and out. She'd never done anything like this before and it made her nervous. If this all went to plan, she'd be a prime target for Shinra, someone that they wanted to terminate as soon as possible. She'd never been in trouble before, and she faltered on one of the steps. Barret soon caught up to her and pushed her along, causing her to nearly fall down the stairs, what with the speed he was running. They made it to the bottom of the stairs and into the core of the Mako reactor. The path in front had rusted and fallen away, but they jumped over it without a second thought and climbed down the first ladder, that had been fixed to one of the pipes taking Mako energy out of the reactor and into the homes on the plate. As Jessie climbed down, she could feel the powerful surge of Mako underneath her, which only heightened her nervousness. She didn't like ladders at the best of times. Once safely on the walkway below, she got into position next to the second ladder down and smiled at Barret. He would be going right down to the bottom of the reactor alone. She watched as Barret quickly navigated the pipes and the ladders, fidgeting with nerves. Once he'd planted the bomb, they had ten minutes to get out of the reactor and safely into Sector 8, or else they'd be blown sky-high. She'd secretly made the bomb slightly more powerful than the specification had said to make sure it blew the whole reactor, so she didn't really want to be about when it detonated. She wanted to be safely on the train in Sector 8, going back to Seventh Heaven.

Barret climbed down the last ladder and hurried along the last walkway to the point where he'd plant the bomb. The walkway was the only thing keeping him from the vast lake of Mako, which slightly unnerved him. Not that he would tell anyone. He reached the controls for the reactor and crouched over them.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk," he whispered to himself as he set the bomb. As he stood up, the lights changed, beginning to flash red as a siren wailed, hurting Barret's ears. A huge scorpion robot sped out of the other end of the walkway, tail up, ready to attack. This has to be the reason for the lack of security! Barret checked his gun arm again as it came closer and let off a shower of bullets.

"Bring it!" He cried to the guard scorpion, and it fired a huge laser beam from its tail, knocking Barret to the floor, bruised and slightly winded from the impact. The scorpion then lowered its tail, and the second time Barret attacked, it didn't shoot a laser at him.

"Don't shoot while its tail is up!" With this information, he was able to dispatch the huge robot in a few minutes, although it left him bloody and badly bruised. He'd have to get Tifa to sort him out once they got back. He propped himself up on one arm, then remembered the time limit.

"Shit!" He jumped over the scorpion and thundered down the walkway, back up the pipes and the ladders. He passed Jessie, not looking back, expecting her to be following him. Anyone in their right mind would be.

"Barret! I'm stuck!" She cried. She reached out to try and grab him as he went past, but only the tips of her fingers brushed his trouser leg and she couldn't get hold of him. Her leg had got stuck in the grate as she went to follow Barret, and anything she did only wedged it in further.

"C'mon, Jess! We only have a few minutes to get outta here!" He waved her on, not realising how badly she was caught up. Her lower leg was dangling through the grate and her knee was twisted uncomfortably. She was unable to move, and became more desperate as Barret got further away.

"Barret!" She screamed, and he looked over this time. He was just about to jump over the gap and leave her. She looked at him, and realised in that moment that he actually was going to leave her there. She was going to be sacrificed for the sake of the Planet. She raged with anger - _he's gonna leave me to die!_ - but she also understood. They couldn't save everyone, and the planet was way more important than her. Eyes brimming with tears, she nodded. "Get the others out. Destroy the other reactors; there's more bombs back at the bar. Save the Planet. Don't give up, 'kay?" She choked on her last words.

"I'm sorry…" was all Barret said before he jumped out of the core of the reactor. She twisted her body so she could see the countdown meter on the bomb. 4:31 until the bomb detonated, until she died from the impending explosion. She never thought, in all her life, that she would know exactly when and where she would die. She wished for someone to come and save her, to pull her out with ease and drag her out of her, but Barret was long gone by now, and there was nobody else down here.

Barret flew up the stairs and into the elevator, which seemed to take even longer than before. He began to tap his foot again and rushed out as soon as it stopped. Biggs started at Barret's fast pace, before noticing someone was missing.

"Where's Jessie?" His voice quavered slightly. There was a feeling growing in the pit of his stomach; something that told him he wouldn't like Barret's answer.

"It's too late to save her. Open the door!" _Too late? She's dead?_ His mouth dropped and tears pricked his eyes. There must've been some complication they hadn't accounted for. Damn it, maybe if he'd planned this better, she'd still be alive!

"Code deciphered." His voice was shaky with anger and sorrow. They'd been friends since they were both scrawny teenagers in the slums, and they had been as close as siblings. Biggs had looked after her like she was his little sister, and now she'd died from his lack of planning. He followed Barret to the next door, which he quickly opened. They ran out to the exit Wedge had sorted out and got clear of the reactor as the bomb counted down the last few seconds. Jessie wiped away the tears, and took a last breath. The counter clicked to zero, and her body was torn apart by the explosion like a rag doll.

Barret, Biggs and Wedge watched as the sky lit up with a huge explosion from their safe place in one of the dark tunnels on the Plate. A ring of fire spread out from the explosion site, and the trio were showered in drops of Mako. A metal belt buckle landed next to Barret, slightly soft and white-hot, and he turned away. It had been Jessie's belt buckle.

Barret kicked a twisted metal pipe out of his way and sighed. "That should keep the planet going... at least a little longer." It was a bittersweet feeling, but they'd all been prepared for collateral damage. They had all known that this mission was dangerous, and Barret had given them all a chance to back out.

"Yeah," Wedge replied, despondent. Barret walked over to the pile of debris blocking their way and began to move it, piece by piece. Slowly, Biggs and Wedge joined him and they eventually cleared a hole in the debris just big enough for them to squeeze through. They left the tunnel and found themselves in Sector 8, which was now littered with more parts from the reactor.

"All right, now let's get out of here. Rendezvous at Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!" Biggs and Wedge nodded and wandered off in the direction of the station, dragging their feet and hanging their heads. Barret waited a couple of minutes before following them, passing by a flower girl without so much as a second glance. She passed him and headed in the opposite direction, looking for someone to sell to.


	3. 2 - Meeting With The President

**Thanks to all that have favourited and followed! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next chapter will be up soon, where Cloud's absence really starts to make a difference. Please review if you enjoyed.**

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Chapter 2 – Meeting With The President

"I ain't letting you, Tifa! I don't want another one of us killed!" Barret shouted at the young woman in front of him. She pushed the door shut, so that none of the patrons of the bar would hear the argument taking place. Then, she turned full-force on Barret.

"But it's perfectly okay for you to go out there with Biggs and Wedge? You have a child you should be looking after! What happened to Marlene?!" She punched her other hand in a threatening manner, to remind him that she was trained.

"Don't you dare bring her into this! I'm doin' this for Marlene's future, but I need you to stay here wi' her!"

"I'm not your goddamn babysitter, Barret! I'm a member of AVALANCHE just as much as you are, and I want to help! I want to help Marlene's future too!"

"You'll be killed, like Jess was!" Tifa wasn't violent by nature, but all she wanted to do was pound some sense into Barret's head.

"I will not! I know the risks, and so did Jessie. We expected there to be collateral in this. Besides, Zangan didn't train me to sit around pulling pints! I want to help the planet as much as you do, so let me!"

"I can't, Tifa." Barret brushed past her and left the small room that was connected to the bar, leaving Tifa fuming. She didn't want to sit around any longer, not now they were actually doing something to help the Planet. She didn't join AVALANCHE to be Marlene's stand-in parent, damn it, she wanted to bring down ShinRa and its Mako reactors! She wanted to fight, mostly for the good of the planet, but she admitted there was some personal revenge mixed in with that, due to what had transpired in Nibelheim. And she wasn't going to let Barret get in the way of her revenge, of that she was certain. Tifa smirked; she knew they were bombing Sector Five next, as Biggs had told her, so she would meet them there, where they wouldn't be able to get rid of her. She knew her friend Ally would look after Marlene, as she adored the child almost as much as Barret did. Meanwhile, she was going to go and exact her revenge on ShinRa.

"I knew it." Biggs whispered to Wedge, who was sat next to him on the train. Wedge, under his disguise as a low-class ShinRa employee, shot his friend a confused look.

"Knew what?"

"Security. They're doing all sorts of checks on the people using trains now. It'd be tough to sneak through undetected."

"You mean we'll be caught?" Wedge's voice rose above a whisper, and Barret glared at him from the opposite side of the train.

"Nah, we'll be fine. Jessie made these, remember? She hasn't screwed up. They'll pass everything fine." Biggs' voice was confident, and Wedge nodded his head in agreement. He still couldn't help the shaking with worry when the ID checkpoints came up, though, but they passed through without a hitch and Wedge let out the breath he'd been holding. Even Biggs visibly relaxed, for all the confident air he was putting on. The train pulled into the station and Barret nodded to the duo.

"Let's do this." They all exited the train onto the platform, which was identical to the one in Sector 1, apart from the two guards, who were asleep this time. One stirred and clutched his gun tighter as Barret thundered past, but didn't wake, much to AVALANCHE's relief. They hurried past and up the stairs to the reactor's gates. Where Tifa stood, fighting gloves on, waiting for them.

"Wha' the hell you doin' here!?" Barret shouted.

"You'll bring the security, shouting that loud. Come on, we don't have all day." She uncrossed her arms and joined the group. Biggs and Wedge worked on the gates while Barret scowled at Tifa.

"Where's Marlene?"

"She's at Ally's." This pacified Barret a little, but he was still angry that Tifa had gone behind his back. He was supposed to be the leader, and she was supposed to follow his orders, damn it! He didn't want a repeat of Sector 1, yet she was here putting herself in unnecessary danger. They'd made sure that anyone who didn't need to be in the reactor wasn't, to lessen the chances of another accident, and now Tifa was messing the plans up. The gates slid open without a sound, and Barret headed through, Tifa following. Biggs and Wedge would head back to the hideout now and wait it out there, rather than keeping watch inside the reactor. Barret and Tifa found their way down to the core easily, as the layout was the same in all eight reactors, at least for getting in. Barret set the bomb, and was surprised at the lack of huge robotic spider. Come to think of it, there were no alarms blaring, either, which put him on edge a little. He'd learnt from Sector One that you had to expect the unexpected in these places. The pair ran out through a different way that Wedge had marked out, as Biggs and Wedge were supposed to have re-sealed the front gates behind them, to allay suspicions from any guards. The duo eventually came across a complicated mechanism with three blinking buttons. Barret remembered what Biggs had told him when on the train and barked at Tifa, who he was still angry with.

"We have to press all three buttons at once!" Tifa scowled at him, but leant across the switchboard and pushed two of the buttons, leaving Barret to jab the third button with his good hand. The door across the room opened and they were on their way again. Barret led down a walkway that was almost identical to the one they used to enter the reactor, except it led to the back gates. He was so focussed on where he was putting his feet that by the time he realised there were ShinRa infantrymen blocking his path, he was almost on top of them. He stopped dead, eyes wide in shock before he brought himself back to his senses.

"Shinra soldiers!? SHIT! What the hell's goin' on?" The troopers said nothing, instead choosing to stand like statues. Tifa came to stand beside Barret and shrugged. Loud footsteps began to echo throughout the reactor as a blond and rather rotund man ambled casually along the walkway, stopping a few yards away from his soldiers. He took in the sight of Barret and Tifa, looking at them as if they were dirt on his expensive leather shoes.

"Is that… President Shinra? What's he doing here?" Tifa hissed at Barret. Despite the nerves and the tension of being on the wrong side of such a powerful man, she couldn't help thinking how out of place he looked. The reactor was all dust and dirt and Mako, and he was dressed in velvet and gold.

"Hmm... So you all must be that... ...what was it?" The president didn't even sound like he'd even known the name in the first place. Barret took a step forward and puffed out his chest, an act that would have made Tifa bury her face in her hands if it wasn't for the current situation.

"AVALANCHE! And don't ya forget it! And you're President Shinra, huh?" Barret bellowed at the president, who just rolled his eyes at the terrorist in front of him. President Shinra could have him crushed in a second, with all that bravado gone in an instant, and he knew he could. This loud-mouthed criminal was barely worth the time of day.

"Yes, well, I can't be expected to remember names of such… groups."

"Ha! You'll remember our names when this place goes up with a BANG, won't ya? You won't forget then, an' it'll serve you right!" The president rolled his eyes again and chuckled at this man's stupidity. Really, he was like a stuck record. At least the woman had the decency to keep her mouth shut, although she was very pretty. Very pretty indeed, actually. Perhaps she was one of Corneo's girls? He might need to make an inquiry.

"...You are beginning to bore me." President Shinra waved Barret away, clearly dismissing him. There's only so long people like him could talk to terrorists like this, and he'd reached his limit. "I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me... I have a dinner I must attend." Barret nearly exploded with rage at the man who was destroying the Planet. He didn't even care; dinner with his stupid executives was more important!

"Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

"But, I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all." The president smiled as he snapped his fingers, the cue for one of the soldiers to release Scarlett's latest, and perhaps best, creations. It would certainly wipe the floor with these two.

"What's that noise?" Tifa took a step back as a buzzing filled the air. It was so loud she could barely hear Barret's cursing above it, and she covered her ears. Barret ran backwards with alarming speed, almost knocking into Tifa as a huge robot flew in, propellers slicing through the musty air. The president smiled again, thin lips stretched too tight.

"Meet 'Airbuster,' a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him. I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments." President Shinra gave a small wave as a helicopter pulled up to the side of the walkway, the ShinRa logo emblazoned across it. "Now then, if you'll excuse me." He stepped onto the helicopter and left Barret and Tifa with the Airbuster.

"Shit." Barret raised his gun-arm and began to fire. Airbuster quickly lurched forward with a counter-attack, sending Barret backwards into the metal handrail. Tifa quickly took her chance to roll underneath the techno-soldier and pummel the back of it, as it was still focused on Barret. It turned around to face her and knocked her backwards as well, but she noticed that it was already a bit damaged. However, that didn't stop it from blasting a huge ball of energy at her. She rolled again and the attack skirted past her, but it got her leg and left the acrid smell of burning flesh. Barret emptied another round into the Airbuster's back, and it began to hum and malfunction.

_Its back is its weakest point!_ The pain hit Tifa like a ton of bricks, but she summoned enough strength to hurl a Bolt spell at it. It turned, leaving an opening for Barret to hit it at its weak point. She allowed herself a glance at her injury and she looked down to see blistered flesh that made her feel slightly queasy. Her eyes flicked back up just to see Barret's Big Shot slamming through the back of the Airbuster. There was a loud crackling sound, and then small explosions as the techno-soldier began to malfunction and destroy itself.

"Tifa!" Barret ran over to where she still lay on the walkway, hooking her arm and dragging her out of the way of the robot. Plates of metal and lengths of wire began to litter the area as the Airbuster crashed to the walkway and exploded, taking away a huge section of the metal underneath it. Parts and ash rained down on Barret and Tifa as they looked over the edge. There was no sign of the techno-soldier they'd just fought; all that Tifa could see apart from the gloom of the slums was what looked like a glass dome.

"C'mon, let's go." Barret hauled her up and Tifa went to gingerly put weight onto her injured leg, but Barret scooped her up easily and began to sprint from the reactor. They'd just reached the door when another explosion ripped through the reactor, shredding it completely. Barret dived for the floor and leant over Tifa, using his body as a shield for her from the falling metal and twisted pipes. They had both forgotten about the bomb once they'd seen President Shinra, and were just relieved that they'd managed to get out in time.

"Thanks, Barret." Tifa's smile lit up her soot-streaked face, and Barret helped her to her feet.

"I guessed I'd be faster. I guess I need ta thank you for coming as well, really. I couldn't have done that on ma own." Barret placed one of her arms around his shoulders, and helped her to the closest train station in Sector Six. Another mission successfully complete. They'd blown two reactors to smithereens, and there was only six to go now. Barret grinned at the thought, earning him some slightly scared looks from the people of Sector Six.

"Two down, six to go." He whispered in Tifa's ear. She smiled back up at him.

"Y'know where I've always wanted to go?" She asked, tone conversational in case of eavesdroppers. "Sector Two." She smirked, in a way that Barret wasn't used to seeing from her. It promised destruction and probably death on the ShinRa side, but he could cope with that. Soon, it was going to be three down, five to go, and that would show that bastard President Shinra.


	4. 3 - Captured

**Sorry about the long wait, everyone! As usual, review if you liked or think it can be improved, and thanks to those who have followed/favourited!**

Chapter 3 – Captured

It sounded like rain on the glass roof of the church, but no rain ever reached the slums. Confused, Aerith looked up to see twisted metal pounding down on the church. She had no idea where they'd come from, and wondered if Zack would be falling through again. She giggled at the memory of the SOLDIER falling onto her flowers, then sobered. She'd not heard a single word from him for years, despite her letters. It wouldn't be him. Sighing, she turned her attention back to her flowers. There was probably an accident or fault in the reactor above. Yes, that was probably it; those sorts of things did happen from time to time.

"Good morning, Aerith." She started, and turned to see a familiar blue suit. Except this wasn't Tseng; the man stood in the doorway had a shock of red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and a cigarette dangling from his lips. She remembered that Tseng's second-in-command fitted this description, and his name was Reno. Zack occasionally called him Reno the Merciless, although that was probably just Zack messing with her. She hoped so.

"Good morning, Reno." Her voice mercifully stays steady. "Have you come to smell the flowers?" He wasn't, she knew as soon as he said her name, but there was little harm in trying.

"Not quite." Three soldiers ran into the front of the church, guns in hands, all pointed at Aerith. Her green eyes opened wide; this was her worst nightmare. She backed up, then skirted around the flowers and bolted for the back door. She had to get out of here.

"Don't let her get away!" Reno snarled, and the four began to run after Aerith. With trembling hands, she unlatched the door and ran into the bell tower, ascending the first flight of stairs before Reno got to the door. They were coming to take her back to ShinRa, back into the greasy grasp of Hojo. As she went to climb the second set of stairs, one of the troopers caught her up. He went to knock her out with the butt of his gun, but she ducked and grabbed the wooden rod she kept strapped to her back. She hit the man in the chest, which sent him staggering backwards. It hadn't been a hard blow, by anny standards, but it had caught him by surprise. Aerith rammed the pole into his stomach, forcing him to back up more. The edge of the rickety scaffolding gave way under his heavy boots and he fell backwards. She didn't wait to watch him hit the stone floor, but carried on. There was little time as it is. Near the top of the second flight of stairs, the other two troopers reached her and she cursed inwardly. The first fight had slowed her down. One of the troopers grabbed the hem of her jacket and yanked her back into his arms. He held her in a vice-like grip as he called to Reno in a jubilant tone. She let herself go limp in his grasp, then brought her leg up and booted him in the groin as he was busy congratulating himself. Shocked, he dropped his gun and fell to his knees. He was helpless as Aerith whirled around and kicked him in the head, snapping his neck backwards and sending him plummeting to join the first trooper. The final trooper looked on in shock as she scrabbled about on the wooden planks and grabbed the gun, bringing it up in one fluid motion and smashing it over the third trooper's head. He crumpled to the floor and the gun slid out from her grasp as she watched the man keel over. She'd never really hurt a person before, but now she'd just dispatched three without a thought. Sure, it was in self-defense, but even so. Those men on the floor didn't look very alive anymore. Had… had she just killed a man?

"Having a conscience, are we?" She'd forgotten about Reno, and let out a small scream as he wrapped his skinny arms around her neck and crushed her to him. He laughed, and she could feel him slowly constricting her breathing. She brought her leg up, aiming to kick him like she had the other trooper, but he sharply kicked her other knee so it buckled from under her. With a gasp, Aerith crashed to the wooden planks. Reno leant over her, one foot firmly placed in the small of her back. He snorted in contempt and she felt a small prick in the flesh of her arm. "Next time, don't bother trying to take on a Turk, darlin'." It was then she realised that the prick had been from a needle, and said needle was probably full of sedative.

_I can't go back._ She fell unconscious and Reno took a glance at his fallen troopers. "Bloody useless."

* * *

Barret eventually managed to navigate the trains half-carrying, half-dragging Tifa and pulled her back to Seventh Heaven. When they reached the bar, Marlene came hurtling out and leaped down the steps, much to Barret's horror.

"Daddy! Daddy! There's some scary man in the bar!" Tifa jerked herself out of Barret's grasp and hobbled into the bar. Looking around, the only one who looked suspicious was a man sat on one of the bar stools with his hood up, downing a glass of whiskey. Clenching her fists, she did her best to walk over in a threatening way, but it wasn't really working.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" She put her hands on her hips and looks at him expectantly. He turns to meet her gaze and almost overbalances. Probably not his first glass of whiskey then; his eyes are starting to become glazed.

"I dunno, can ya?" She feels Barret's presence behind her, and the man sees him too. His eyes opened wide and he bolted for the door, but the drinks slowed him down. Barret grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly shoved him back on his stool.

"Where're you going so fast, huh?" There was a small sound of fear from the man as Barret lifted his gun-arm to the man's head.

"Er, I was… done here. Finished my drink."

"So what was the hurry all about?"

"Gotta get back, back to work for me." He let out a nervous chuckle and made to try and escape again, but Barret wrapped his hand around the man's neck.

"An' where's that?" The man fidgeted in his seat, causing his hood to slip partway, uncovering his face. Tifa had seen this man before, although only briefly. He'd never been important; she could only remember his face because of the small tattoo just below his right temple. She remembered thinking that it was a weird place to have a tattoo, even a tiny one.

"Sector Six…"

"Very specific, huh? I'll blow ya brains out if I have to! Where!?" Barret growled and tightened his grip. The man's face began to take on a very unusual shade of purple.

"Don…" He wheezed out, voice low so the other patrons, who were looking on incredulously, wouldn't hear. Barret released the guy, who ran as quickly as he could, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to get out of the bar.

"He meant Corneo? What's he doing sniffing around here?" Tifa asked, although she knew Barret knew about as much as she did.

"He's the only Don in Sector Six." Barret's face was set in a frown.

"Then we need to go and see why he's sending-"

"No. You're not gonna go to Corneo's place. Leave him alone." Barret sounded almost threatening to her, and truth be told, it was a little scary. She wanted to take his advice and just leave Don Corneo on his gaudy little throne in Wall Market, but she also wanted to go and see what was going on. If he was sending people here, something had to be going on. Corneo rarely stuck his hand out further than his own little empire in Sector Six. She bowed her head.

"Okay then. He probably just wanted a drink." She smiled up at him and he nodded back.

* * *

She woke to blinding whiteness, then a familiar face. It was familiar, but not one she wanted to see.

"So you're awake. Excellent." Hojo's face disappeared from sight, and she tried to sit up. Having him out of sight was always a bad idea, but she realised that she was bound to the table. Sighing, she fell back on the table and waited for him to do something. Struggling was useless. Struggling meant he would tighten the bonds. She'd learnt that when she was six. He began sticking tubes and needles and various other things into her and running tests, but she shut her eyes and focused on her breathing. She could sense that he was a tiny bit annoyed that he couldn't illicit the same terror in her as he could when she was a child, but a lot more had happened to her now. She'd watched her mother die, and she'd been as helpless as the cobbles she'd been sat on. Even the slums had toughened her up. However, Hojo was more annoyed by something else. He began to mumble as the tests continued and kept repeating 'disappointing' a lot. This unnerved her, as that probably didn't bode well for her.

After a while, he threw his hands up in the air and sighed in frustration. He turned to leave, probably having more important things to do. Perhaps she was what he classed as a 'failure'?

"Put the Ancient in one of the cells," he barked at one of his helpers. "I'll continue with it tomorrow." _Did he just refer to me as 'it'?_ That made her angry; what a rude thing to say, even coming from Hojo! But at least she was getting out of here for now. She hadn't been here that long by Hojo's standards, either. She must've really been a failure, which wasn't a good sign. That normally meant a quick disposal by the Science Department.

* * *

"All right, ladies! Line up in front of the Don!" Tifa got into position, in the middle of two other girls, and puffed her chest out. She needed to be picked for tonight, or else she'd never find out what he was up to. She took a sneaky glance to her left to check what competition she had. The girl was small and pale, with dirty blonde hair pulled up into a bun. However, Tifa could not deny that she was very pretty, the sort of classic beauty found in childhood tales of princesses and the like. The girl on the other side was like her polar opposite. Her curls of brown hair were left free to tumble down her back, and her skin looked like she'd spent a lot of the time in the sun, which most likely meant she hadn't been in Midgar long. Green eyes blazed as she glared at Don Corneo; she wasn't here of her own volition, but then, she looked young, way younger than what should be allowed here.

"Hmm! Good, splendid!" _Maybe she's being forced into the Honeybees._ Apparently it paid well, and so many were in need of money down here. Corneo leaped over his desk to examine the girls in front of him, and Tifa was surprised he could. He looked at the first girl, the one who glared at him, and she leant backwards, as if recoiling from him. He looked delighted. Tifa felt slightly ill. When he came to her, it took all of her willpower to wink at him and make a saucy 'come here' gesture at him.

"This one…?" He murmured, grinning and licking his lips. She fought the urge to run away from this lecherous man and smiled at him instead. He glanced at the third girl, the blonde who was trying to integrate herself into the shadows, before shaking his head almost imperceptibly and pointing to Tifa.

"I've made up my mind! This little beauty is my choice for tonight! Woohoo!" The Don began to wiggle his hips, and Tifa really did feel sick. "You can have the others!" The man who'd led them in muttered his thanks before leading the others away, leaving just Tifa with Corneo. He led her into his bedroom, which was tastelessly decorated with bright hearts and garish colours.

"Woo-hoo!" Corneo shouted, hastily stripping off his outer layers of clothing. "Come, come, don't be so shy..."

"I know... But you know, Don Corneo, I'd like you to explain something

before we start..." The Don looked confused for a moment, then grinned, showing all of his false teeth.

"Hm? Oh, you mean about THAT? Don't worry. I'm single. There, feel better now?" He wiggled his hips and Tifa took a step back. She really would be sick if she didn't get out of here soon. What a repulsive excuse for a man!

"No, no, not that. I meant-" He wiggled his hips again, this time more vigorously. "No, wait a minute…"

"Aooooooh! I can't wait any longer! Here comes papa!" The Don launched himself at Tifa, who hopped out of the way and punched him in the jaw. She grabbed him by his neck and squeezed, pushing him against the bed.

"My question was different. Why were your assistants in Sector Seven?" He mimed sealing his lips. Tifa slapped him in the face. "Talk! Else... I'll chop 'em off." His eyes widened and he squeaked as she made a crushing motion with her hand.

"No, no, no! Not that! I was ordered to find out where the man with the gun-arm was."

"By who? Who?" Tifa commanded. Corneo grinned, as if he had just remembered something.

"That's enough for tonight, darlin'." _What the hell is he on about?_ She tightened her grip on his neck; he wasn't running this conversation, she was. "GUARDS!" She'd completely forgotten about the guards stationed just outside this set of rooms. Gasping, she released her grip on the Don and stepped away from him. Corneo rolled forwards to his bedside table and took a glance at Tifa before pressing the button. The floor beneath her gave way and she began to fall. It was a trapdoor. _Damn it, Corneo!_

The guards burst into the Corneo's bedroom and saw the open door leading to the sewers.

"Aps has it under control, I believe." The Don grinned again, like a cat with all the cream in the world. "Now, bring me the other dark-haired beauty!"

* * *

"Take it up to the next floor. We're going to start the breeding." Hojo sounded angry. A blond man pushed his glasses further up his nose and nodded. He pressed a button on the control panel infront of him, and the floor of the glass cell began to move up, carrying the red animal with it.

Aerith looked up as the floor began to shake. What was going on? Was there some sort of earthquake happening? She glanced over to the lab assistants outside her containment unit, but they didn't seem to be bothered, so she forced herself to relax. Then, the middle section of the floor split open and a new platform rose up in its place. One with a very large feline-type animal on it. Letting out a shriek, Aerith scuttled backwards until she hit the glass. The animal reared up on its back legs, letting out a snarl, before bounding to Aerith and pouncing on her. She screamed again, arms flailing to try and get the attention of the assistants. One nudged Hojo as he noticed the Ancient's predicament and pointed at the containment unit. The beast let out a long howl as Hojo ran over and slammed down on the largest button on the control panel. The unit immediately began to fill with a thick grey gas. The animal took a sniff of the gas, then recoiled. It began to pace in front of Aerith, snapping its teeth and snarling, but its movements were steadily becoming more and more sluggish. Eventually, it dropped to the floor, asleep. Aerith followed not long after.

When she woke up again, the beast was in front of her. She opened her mouth to scream, but at a second glance, it didn't seem to be about to attack her. She sat up, shaking, and the beast shook its head.

"Sorry about earlier." _It can talk!?_ "It was only to stop Hojo's plans. He's trying to breed us, you know, but I won't harm you."

"Er…" What were you supposed to say to a beast that had attacked you and now can apparently talk? "It's okay?"

"Ah, forgive me. I suspect you're not used to talking animals, right?" Aerith shook her head. Did he really think she would be?!

"Do… you have a name?" He seemed to think about this for a moment, tilting his head slightly.

"Hojo called me Red XIII, although that is just an experiment placeholder, I think. You can call me as you wish." The animal seemed nice enough now, so Aerith shrugged. Maybe it was telling the truth.

"I'm Aerith."

He tousled his blond locks as he watched Professor Hojo pace in front of him. He would be lucky to get out of this lab alive today; Hojo was furious at the attempted breeding.

"They're in the same holding cell, right?" He nodded assent.

"Yes, Professor Hojo."

"Good. We will leave them for a few days, and after that, we will have to intervene with AI. Got it?"

"Yes, Professor." Hojo sloped off, muttering something about another of his current projects. His assistant frowned in disgust; the man paid no attention to the people and animals that he kept here. Red XIII had just tried to kill the girl, and now he was expecting them to breed? He'd known when he joined the Science Department that Hojo had few morals, but trying to breed a young girl with a feline-type thing was a step too far. He wasn't going to stand for this. He strode off, in the opposite direction to Hojo, face set in determination.


	5. 4 - Crushed Like Ants

**I know this has been a very, very long time in the writing, so please don't eat me, but I didn't forget about it! Thanks to those who've followed/favourited, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 4 – Crushed Like Ants

Tifa landed on the cold stone floor with a thud and her wrist twisted back in ways it probably shouldn't have. She gritted her teeth as she rolled over and pulled it from underneath her. She could still move all her fingers and flex it, just with excruciating pain, so she hoped it was just a sprain. Cradling it with her other hand, she got to her feet and turned, just in time to see a huge wave barrelling towards her before it swept her off her feet. As she landed on her back again, she wiped the disgusting sewage water from her face and looked up for the source of the huge wave, which turned out to be a huge blue behemoth-type monster, with a pair of wicked horns protruding from its shoulders. Hastily, she reached down and tugged off her purple heels and scrambled away from the monster; they wouldn't be much good for her here. Launching them at the monster as a distraction, she began to run. It roared, sending another wave at her, this one a good ten feet high. It smashed into her, sweeping her off her feet for a second time. Her mouth filled with sewage water as she got caught in the wave and she fell back to the floor in a heap. She spat the water out and dragged herself forwards out of the sludge. It swiped at her with one arm, throwing her into the side of the stone walkway surrounding the sewers. Her head snapped back, banging on the metal handrail. She gasped at the impact and lifted a hand to her head, but she didn't have time to do anything. The monster lunged at her again, and she ducked, quickly dodging out of the way and began to run again. The blow to her head had made her dizzy, she realised; she couldn't run straight, but she couldn't stop. She was about ten strides from the stairs, where it would be too big to follow her. _Keep going, Teef. _She could hear the surge of water behind her above the rushing of the blood through her head, and knew she had only a matter of seconds before a third wave came her way. Her strides lengthened and her sight began to blacken around the edges. She could hear the wave beginning to flow towards her, and she desperately reached out for the stairs and leapt. Tifa fell onto the stone steps, the breath rushing out of her as the wave crashed against the wall, the water lapping all around her, trying to sweep her away with it. She scrambled to her hands and knees as the monster tried to slam into her, but as she thought, it couldn't fit through the small doorway into the steps. It roared with anger, but Tifa laughed, until a sharp stab of pain in her head brought her back to her senses. She brought herself slowly to her feet, but it felt like the water had leached all the strength from her. The day had been too long, and the head injury had not done much to help her balance. She fell back to her knees, feeling close to tears with exhaustion, but forced herself to crawl out of the sewers.

The door nearly flew off its hinges with the force that Biggs pushed it with. Barret looked around from playing with Marlene, a scowl on his face. He opened his mouth, most likely to shout at him, but he was cut off.

"There's no time. ShinRa's dropping the plate." Barret knocked over the small china set he and Marlene had been playing with in his shock. One of the teacups fell to the floor, bounced once and split into tiny shards next to Marlene's foot.

"The Plate!? What?"

"Sector Seven's plate is gonna fall down on us. They're trying to crush us. We have to stop them." Biggs ran over to the wall, where a pair of rifles had been hung. He grabbed them both and headed back out of the door. Barret turned back to Marlene, his face stricken with shock, and grabbed her hand.

"Daddy?" She looked up, staring at him with wide eyes that were brimming with tears. She knew something was going wrong, and she was scared.

"I have to go help Biggs, but you stay here, ok? We'll be back soon." This was a huge risk, he knew. If he went to the plate and couldn't stop ShinRa, Marlene would die, but if he took Marlene, then ShinRa would be able to drop the plate anyway without him there to protect it. It was all very well Biggs and Wedge being there, but they weren't fighters, they were technicians and planners. AVALANCHE needed their fighter; the group needed its leader. If he did this, there was a chance this could all work out. If only Tifa was here to take Marlene. "Stay here, darling. Daddy loves you." He pulled her into a hug with his good arm and tried to stay positive. This was going to work. Of course it was going to work. He repeated the two statements in his head over and over like a mantra. He'd once heard that if you lied to yourself enough, you'd begin to believe it. He hoped it kicked in soon. Slowly, he let go and began to detach the young girl he'd come to care so much for and headed for the door. She looked after him longingly, and it almost broke his heart when he looked around. The pair of saloon doors opened into the cold mustiness of the slums. Barret didn't look back again; he knew that if he did, his willpower would fade and he'd run back to Marlene. He kept walking, to the pillar that held up the plate. From this distance, he could just make out two blobs moving up the lower levels of the tower. Guns were already being fired, so Barret broke into a run.

He pushed his way through the throng of shouting people at the bottom of the stairs and thundered up, the metal shaking under his heavy boots as he used the handrail to propel himself up. He passed Wedge about halfway up, and the younger man grinned at him, even though he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Go get 'em, Barret!" Barret nodded as he went past, making sure his gun was ready and loaded.

"Watch my back, I'm gonna smash these ShinRa idiots!" Wedge nodded and followed Barret up the stairs to where Biggs was. He was slumped against the railing, one hand pressed over his opposite shoulder. His shirt was stained dark red with the blood, and he weakly looked up at Barret.

"Leave me." He shook his head. "You have to get there." Barret nodded again and dropped a potion onto Biggs' lap before heading up. Wedge gave him a sorrowful look as he passed to follow Barret, gun clutched tightly in his sweaty hands.

Barret strode onto the platform at the top of the pillar, gun arm at the ready, when a helicopter flew past, depositing a young man in a dark blue suit. Barret growled; Turks were essentially the guard dogs of President ShinRa, the ones who did all the dirty work. The man straightened up and ran to the pillar, pressing a few of the buttons. Barret sprinted up to him, determined to stop him.

"You're too late. Once I push this button..." The man smirked, flicking his red ponytail over his shoulder. He pressed another button, and it beeped. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished." Barret roared and shoved the Turk roughly.

"You disarm it, now! You can't crush the whole of the Sector!" The man laughed, pulling out an electro-mag rod and running his free hand through his hair.

"Oh, I won't be doing any disarming today, and I think you'll find I can. You'll be crushed like ants under my boot. No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks..." Reno was cut off by a bullet to his right shoulder. He stepped back, hissing with pain as Biggs lowered his gun. Barret took the opportunity to try and lay a round into the man, but Reno ducked under and swapped his rod over to his left hand to hit Barret in the side with it. It crackled with electricity as it struck, and Barret stumbled backwards.

"Nice shot." Reno turned to Wedge and smiled, showing teeth. "But I'm left-handed." Reno lunged forward, and Wedge instinctively brought the gun up to block. Reno kicked him in the stomach and laid the electric rod across the gun. The metal of the gun conducted the electricity down Wedge's arms and he screamed and convulsed as it surged through him, dropping to one knee. Reno laughed manically, then ducked as he heard Barret recover and fire at him again. The bullets disappeared into the sector and Reno whirled around, sweeping Barret's legs from under him with a quick flick of his wrist. Wedge stumbled back to two feet, but Reno swung forward and kicked out behind him, catching Wedge in the chest and making him fall back to the ground. With both men down, Reno grinned and ran to the edge, jumping on the guardrail with a single swift moment. He glanced back as a helicopter pulled up the side of him. "It's time." He leapt off the rail and into the helicopter, holding his injured shoulder. Barret watched him jump and scrabbled to his feet, running over to the mechanism that Reno had been using earlier and tried to disarm it.

"Damnit! It's not working!" Barret smashed some of the buttons in his anger as Wedge ran up beside him. He took one glance and shook his head.

"It isn't a normal time bomb." There was a deep laugh from behind them and they both turned to see another Turk with his head out of the door of the helicopter. His long black hair fluttered in the breeze caused by the blades of the chopper.

"That's right. You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it." Barret ran forward, angered by the man's words. They couldn't stop the plate falling.

"Stop it, you bastards!" He screamed, hoping for the impossible. There was no way the Turk would go back on a mission to save a few people. That wasn't the nature of a guard hound. They stopped when they were told, not when their twisted sense of ethics kicked in. The Turk laughed again.

"Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

"Shut yer hole!" Barret hoisted his gunarm up and open fired on the helicopter and was strangely proud to see the Turk duck and cover his head. He stopped, desperately hoping the Turk would come around to his demand.

"I wouldn't try that... you'll regret it!" Of course he wouldn't. The man was going to let thousands of people die for no reason. All the children that weren't going to have a future- _Marlene_. There was no saving her now. She was going to die because of this cowardly bastard. A new rage filled him as he reloaded his gun arm.

"Aw yeah? I doubt it!" He unleashed another round of bullets, with one hitting the main fuel tank. The helicopter lurched forwards as the fuel ignited, and Tseng was nearly thrown out onto the platform. Recomposing himself quickly, he pulled out his pistol and shouted back into the cockpit.

"Rude, go!" He turned back to Barret, cold sneer back on his face. "Hm. Think you can escape in time anyway?" The helicopter jerked into action as Rude fought to keep the chopper from spiralling down to the sector below. Barret watched as the underside of the plate began to crack, spreading out from the plate support like a spider's web. Dust began to fall onto his shoulders, which brought himself back to the moment. Looking around, he saw a wire. It seemed to be attached to the top of the Plate somewhere, which he hoped meant that it would hold him for long enough. Seeing no other choice except to be crushed, he leaped up on the side of the pillar and began to untie the wire from the handrail. A huge chunk of metal flew past him, disappearing into the dust of the sector below, and Barret could hear the screams of terror coming from below. The wire came free and Barret looped it around his hands quickly before looking back to Wedge, who saw immediately what Barret was doing. He came over to his side, but shook his head.

"I can't."

"Why!?" Barret looked up nervously; the pillar was beginning to disintegrate fast now.

"'Fraid of heights." Barret unlooped one hand to grab Wedge by his belt, making sure he had a firm grip before pushing himself from the pillar. Wedge screamed as he was pulled over the edge of the pillar and began to writhe. The movement made Barret's grip on the wire slip down as he swung.

"Stop it!" He cried, but Wedge was either unable or unwilling to listen. Another chunk of metal flew past, and Wedge screamed again and wriggled about more. Barret could feel the belt straining and slipping. His eyes locked with Wedge's for a moment as they cut through the air, and the belt snapped, unable to hold Wedge's full weight. Wedge plummeted down, leaving Barret holding his belt, unable to help at all. He swung through the sector, with it crumbling to pieces all around him. As he passed over the boundary into Sector Six, he grit his teeth and unclenched his hand, letting the wire slip through his fingers and out of his grasp as he began to fall. He clamped his mouth shut to stop himself from crying out in pain as he impacted the hard dusty floor of the sector. Something in the back of his mind kicked in and he began to roll, to spread the impact, but he still felt like he'd dislocated his shoulder and elbow from where he'd landed on them. He let out a small whine as he slowly brought himself to a sitting position. A small rock skittered from the entrance to Sector Seven and rolled into his boot. He looked over, and he wasn't really sure what he was expecting to see, but it wasn't this. The whole doorway was packed with metal and debris, both from the pillar and the village that had been crushed. In one of the top corners, a hand was sticking out, fingers outstretched as though the person had been trying to reach for the exit. Barret turned away, horrified. What if that was Wedge? He should've done something, secured him better so he wouldn't have fallen. Why did he always end up leading his friends to death!? He emptied a round of bullets into the debris, before picking up the stone and launching it in the other direction, watching as it clanked on top of the Moogle slide.

His heart lurched into his throat. _Marlene is dead. _He looked back up at the hand and threw up bile onto the ground next to him as the numbness spread through his body like wildfire.

Using the rusting train, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around. The Train Graveyard. It was basically a dump just past the train station, where broken trains had been left as scrap. There was a chill to the air, and she shivered. Then she heard the screaming. The noise pulled her body into action without her asking it to, easily climbing onto the roof of the train to get a better view. She couldn't see anything at first, but it didn't take her long to see the- was that metal falling from the sky? She squinted to see, beginning to walk along the train to try and see. It looked like it.

"Why is that falling?" _Has Barret blown another reactor without me?_ No, surely she'd have heard the resulting blast? She climbed down the train and ran to the next one, the mystery taking her mind off her injuries, although they were extensive. She clambered onto the next train, when there was a huge, terrible noise from above her. She looked straight up and screamed when she saw the cracks in the Plate. The plate was going to fall and crush the whole sector, and it seemed a perfect metaphor for her life. She scrambled back down and dashed into the car of the train, squashing herself into the tightest ball possible under one of the uncomfortable plastic seats. She grimaced as she saw all the gum that had been stuck under there by stupid kids. Rocks thundered on the roof of the car and she wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut as she listened to the plate falling on top of her, wondering which breath would be her last.


End file.
